For me, this ad hoc series is proving to be great fun. I think that Tony's addition of the Falcon was inspired as it introduced something that really spices things up.
Just as saloon racing in the 60's and 70's saw Minis and Falcons ( and Galaxies ) fighting things out on track, we now have the chance to enjoy the same spectrum of performance. The straight line speed of the Falcon vs the handling of the Cortina and Mini was from different ends of the spectrum.
I just had to use the Falcon in race 1, and was surprised that I was pitched against a field almost exclusively Cortinas. Not too surprised to be near the front of grid over single lap qualifying with the outright speed of the Falcon as tyre wear in the 14 laps was going to be the deciding factor.
Apologies for the bad start....Once again my shifter was reluctant to engage 1st gear ( it also missed a downshift or two later in the race too?? ). I had to use all of the available American muscle to get myself back in contention through the first half lap. A lap or two following Erling's Cortina, whilst I could see Geoffers easing away up ahead was frustrating until I got myself into position to use the brute force of the Falcon to blast past......very satisfying
. But after that I had the headache of defending every corner against Erling's better braking and corner speed and trying to get far enough ahead on the straight bits ( I thought I showed exceptional driving ability on those straights
) to stay ahead at the next braking zone. For once it was not the tyres that gave out first but the brakes, which I had been abusing and I ran out of anchors allowing Erling to escape. Bob and Tony took advantage of my trip into the gravel to get past and I had a couple of fun laps chasing down Tony until I could use the V8 power again and then Bob, who was very reluctant to give up his 3rd spot. Eventually I made the pass, but by now my tyres were joining the brakes as candidates for the scrap bin, and I thought I had just enough to hold him off to the flag.......but in the penultimate corner the rear end, under extreme attention from Bob's Cortina, just would not stick and I spun and gave him the podium spot.
Wrestling the Falcon was just huge fun and the result was not as big as the enjoyment.
Race 2
I could not use the Fabulous Falcon again, so opted for the Alpha and adapted my setup from Donington, which worked quite well.
Again my shifter refused to recognise 1st gear
so I was swamped off the grid and had to chase the pack again. Geoffers would soon be marching up from the back of the grid and I was keen to chase after Erling in his Alpha and maybe get ahead. Catching Erling was relatively easy...passing him proved more of a problem, as I no longer had that lovely V8 Falcon power. For lap after lap there were 30% opportunities but nothing I could risk going for without taking us both off track. All the time Geoffers, who was by now up to 3rd, was closing and was going to be a real threat.
I felt that I could maybe go a little faster, if only Erling's Alpha was not parked on the apex of each corner
. But no matter what lines or tactics I tried I could not find a genuine passing opportunity... and Geoff was getting closer
Once again , I asked too much of the rear tyres and the tail would not stick provoking a spin in a cloud of blue smoke. Geoffers did not need a second invitation and swept past.
The rest of the race was a fruitless chase after the usual pair up ahead.
Like I said in post race chat.....if I could only eliminate the dumb mistakes I might improve my results, but what would be the fun in that?? lol
Grats to both podiums and all finishers....really enjoying this series Tony ( thus far
)